First the national toilet paper shortage and now a national coin shortage – both caused by the coronavirus.
According to the North Carolina Bankers Association (NCBA), all those business shutdowns that started in March, and in North Carolina will continue at least through August 7, are causing a shortage in coins in circulation.
Coins circulate when people spend cash and receive change that they then use to make other purchases, giving exact change so they don’t get more coins or using those coins at vending machines, laundromats, parking meters and elsewhere.
When the government shut down businesses in an attempt to stop the spread of the coronavirus, people stopped shopping in person, because they couldn’t, and made purchases online, which causes no coin circulation. Instead of folks walking around with a jingle in their pocket or purse, people stacked up those coins on their dressers, or put them in drawers, jars or other containers, and many folks forgot all about them.
The result was that those coins that would have been in circulation are not. The federal mint also produced fewer coins because it was trying to protect its employees. But actually the U.S. Mint only accounts for about 20 percent of the coins in circulation. The other 80 percent are already in circulation, or were until people stopped circulating them.
According to the NCBA, the Federal Reserve is projecting the difference between supply and demand at between 2.3 to 3.5 billion coins each month through the end of the year.
Before the coronavirus response wrecked the economy, more than 4 billion coins were deposited and recirculated each month, but since April that number has dropped to less than 2 billion.
The Federal Reserve convened an industry task force to come up with a plan to jumpstart the coin recirculation process.
With all the money the federal government is throwing at the coronavirus, it seems that if the Federal Reserve really wanted to jumpstart the process, it could offer a pristine new dollar bill for 95 cents in change. Even that small profit would get people to empty their jars and drawers of coins in short order.
You can also blame some banks for the shortage. I cashed a check at my bank in April. The bank would not give me the change which was something like 68 cents. The change was deposited into my checking account. They stated that whenever possible they were avoiding giving out change because of the possibility of spreading Covid-19. The government and others have been trying for years to get rid of currency. Their goal seems to be having every one use a digital means of purchasing. Covid-19 seems to be accomplishing what others have failed to do!! Stay tuned for WHAT’S THE NEXT SHORTAGE!
This crisis doesn’t pass the smell test. No change is needed for the people who aren’t buying locally and paying in cash. So for the smaller number of people who ARE buying locally and paying in cash, less change is needed. Why, then, is there a shortage? The only reason I can see is that most businesses take in less change than they give out, and get rolls of pennies, nickels, dimes and quarters from the bank. Currently, our banks don’t want to be bothered with having to actually serve their customers, so a lot of people who otherwise would be depositing coins at the bank aren’t doing so. The banks are probably showing the same degree of contempt for their commercial customers, making it more difficult for them to access what change the banks do have. When (if) the banks start treating their customers with courtesy, it will alleviate the coin shortage to a large degree.
I think you need another bank. The Big Banks are in league with Big Brother. Both want control of the money, and your life. For example, if you are not aware of the corporate criminals that inhabited and set policy for Wells Fargo, then you are totally uninformed. This is fact, not an opinion. I can’t imagine why anyone who knew of them, would bank there. Check this out for yourself. Try a credit union.
Underlying all this is our government’s campaign to eliminate cash. That would by tyranny. Most folks don’t have a clue, but think “it’s cool” to wave a phone at a machine. People who really know are passing away, to leave younger brainwashed adults in charge. There is nowhere to hide.
What is not cool is complete government control of the currency, as outlined in Karl Marx’s Communist Manifesto. The other two things for govt has to do in order to gain total power are control of the press, and control of guns. Control of the press means the propaganda machine (Pravda). Control of the guns will eliminate our ability to resist. So how are we doing on all those?
Finally, when you make an electronic purchase, Big Brother knows what you bought, where you bought it, when you bought it, and where you got the money to pay for it. How does that sound to you?